Van etten



, pound of li-meto twelve sheets of the phrag- .4o.

vUNiTnD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HELEN Many-AN ETTN, or Monnvin, NEW YORK.

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To @ZZ Inkom, it may concern: f

`Be it knownthat-I, 'HELEN M. VAN

a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Moravia, in thev county of Cayuga, and 4State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stiiiening Fabrics; and I do declare'the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable `others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspeciication.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of this invention and-is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a vertical section takeninithe'direction of the broken line w x. y

This invention has relation to -stid'ening fabrics for corsets. and other ga' rmens' or wear ing-apparel, and is designed to take the place of cork, whaleboneptampico, coraline, canvas, hair-cloth, Vand other stiiiening materials heretofore used, and has for its object to provide a stiff and at the same time a ilexiable material, sufciently .well ventilated by its naturefto be cool iu summer, composed `of woven orbraided sheets of East'lndia phragmites, usually employed in the tea trade to incase teach'ests, in combination with textile fabric or analogous backing secured thereto by adhesive substance and then stitched or quilted "to the phragmites, to form an article of manufacture tobe used for stiening in corsets and other apparel.

In preparing the sheets A of phragmites their usually uuwholesome odoris removed by soaking` the 'material in a weak solution of lime-.water iu` about the proportion of one mites. The-material is allowed to remain in the'solution for about two hours, when it is removed andl dried and pressed, and found to possess the requisite degree of flexibility without cracking or breaking, while at the same time it has the quality of stiffness desired. After chemical preparation of 'the sheet of phragmites it is then faced with a flexible covering, B, of muslin or cloth, or, if desired, rubber or leather may beused, though for all practical purposes I prefer the textile fabric, as it is porous and consequently cooler iny the summer season,

"ing .or quilting.

rial is in long and continued use.

Whenever it is desired to have the stienfing material-in combination with a perspirav tionspad, to prevent soiling the outer garments', I use a facing of rubber in place of muslin. Of whatever material the facing iscomposed which is-intended to cover one'side of the preparedphragmiteathe sheet B is lir'stcovered on one of its sides with glue, paste, cement,or other adhesive substance, and then laid upon the sheet of phragmites, and the two are securely pressed together until they have adhered and are dry, the facing B forming thereby a reenforcement to the phragmites, giving greater body and strength, and preventing the facing from leaving the body of phragmites, and from forming ridges and corrugations in the act of bendingthe body, as would be the case were the facing secured to the body only by sew- The material thus prepared is quilted or stitched throughout its entire elleA tent, as shown at C, to give it stllgreater solidity and firmness, and to prevent the strands of phragmites from separating in consequence of the movement of the body when the mateprepared stiffening is then ready for use by being -cut into shape for Vthe particular partof the garment in which it is desired to use 1t.

The newly- The pieces cut for use should be bound with braid or some other suitable material, D, to prevent raveling of the edges and to protect the fabric of the garment from wear and abi rasion by the ends :of the phragmites.

I am aware that palmettoleaves have heretofore been plaited together and fabric stitched to the face thereof for use in corsets; but itis a well-known fact that palmetto-leaves possess but little elasticity and durability in comparison with the- East India phra'gmites. The' formenwhen bent abruptly will either break or remain in its bent shape, while the phragmite may be folded over upon itself without injuring it. In fact, said two substances `are entirely dierent species of vegetation, possess` ing different properties The substance which4 I have selected as the chief elementof my invention has heretofore been considered yunfit for any useful purposes except for wrappers around tea-chests. By my invention. the phragmites, after they have served the aforesaid purpose, are converted into anew article of manufacture of great 2 osseo@ facing are firmly and uniformly united loyadv hesive material, Wiiieh imparts the requisite stifnessto the eitiele uniformly in all dir'eotions; henee Wish. it distinctly-understood that l do not consider the palniettoieaves as the by Letters Patent, '1s- As e, new article of manufact-luie, e stieniug equivalent of .the within-specified phregmites; v1o but et l do cleimas new, and. desire tolseeuren lmt'eiinlfor Corsets and otlnei` articles of Wearing-apparel, consisting of Moody formed of a sheet of phragmites and a facing of exible material Secured thereto by anndhesive substemee' and the body and; facing quilted or sewed together throughout its entire extent, substentiallyas and for the purpose set forth. in testimony whereof i ax my signature in presence 0f two Witnesses.

' l HELEN MAR VAN ETTEN. Witnesses: A

l. H.A PARKER] MARY VAN ETTEN; 

